Just Wing It
by Star's Roaring Blaze
Summary: Reishi was your (more or less) run of the mill Noibat. She had a mother (father having passed sometime later), and an older sister and brother. Surely, after time had passed, nothing else could go wrong... Right? Full synopsis inside. Rated T for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! I haven't visited the Pokemon fanfic universe in about two years or so, but I'm back! Due to school and such matters, updates will be slow.

Full synopsis:

_Reishi was your (more or less) run of the mill Noibat. She had a mother (father having passed sometime later), and an older sister and brother. Surely, after time had passed, nothing else could go wrong... Right? _

_Unfortunately, after her siblings are mortally wounded, things did take a turn for the worst - when she ran off, anyway. Now, alone and helpless, what can the Noibat do now? Hopefully, find something good to chow on, because she's starving. _

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Nintendo does.

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><p>Just Wing It<p>

Chapter 1

When it Rains, it Really Does Pour

Rain. More rain. Ever since she left home, it was always raining. It seemed to be mourning with the Noibat. Saddened by the fact her siblings are more than likely dead at this point in time. Nothing could survive a stalagtite impaling them.

Or maybe it was disappointed in her decision to run away, and Arceus was raining down his disapproval on her.

Whatever the reason, Reishi didn't care. All she knew was that she couldn't go back home. She was the maker of bad luck, the reason her father died, the reason her siblings were probably dead...

The thoughts swirled within the tiny Pokemon, eating away at her already low spirit. She sighed and waited for the weather to let up so she could find food. Luckily, this place was full of berries... And prey.

Mind you, she never knew how to hunt. She wasn't old enough to be taught how. Barely able to keep herself airborne, she was that young. But, she would have to try. At one point or another.

Her gold eyes narrowed in sadness, stomach growling. It's only been two days since she had left, and she was already starting to starve. Reishi, deep down, regretted this.

But what else could she do?

She shivered as big fat raindrops fell on her, and she curled up to conserve warmth. The rain poured down harder, and the crackle of thunder was heard in the distance. She already missed being at home with her family but she refused to ever return there. The Noibat looked up into the air, and sighed.

Looks like she would have to wait it out during the night.

Again.

A tear rolled down Reishi's face as she went into a fitful sleep.

Would this nightmare ever end?

_Probably not, _ Reishi thought to herself.

Her hunger? Maybe it'll end when she's dead.

Because at this rate, that's the road she's heading for.

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><p>AN: Short intro is short. However, as the story goes along, it'll explain everything - and more of an explanation as to why Reishi ran off.

Anyways, R&R please! No flaming!

~GRB


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Never will.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Food For Thought

The next day, Reishi awoke, blearily opening her eyes to sunlight and raindrops. And an empty stomach. She sighed as she got up from her hiding place, and into the world of light. The dewdrops glistened like glass and the air smelled of lavender. A nice morning if any.

Reishi waltzed off into the woods, away from Terminus Cave, in search of sustenance. Good Arceus, she was starving. How was she to find anything nutritious out here. After about an hour, she laid against the trunk of a tree, exhausted and weakened by her ever gnawing hunger and even lower resolve.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She leaned her head on her chest, holding back tears. She was dead. No matter what, she was going to starve-

A new scent filled her nostrils. What was that? Her head turned to the direction of the smell. And a new light filled her doubtful eyes as she trotted over to the source. What she found mere moments later was a lot better.

Berries. Life.

And effectively, survival.

Reishi didn't know how many berries she had downed then, but it was probably a lot, as after she was finished gorging, she laid on her back, belly full for the first time in about 24 hours.

The berry bush was comfortably nestled underneath an oak tree, filled with more fruit. It made the Noibat's mouth water even more.

The thing was... there was no water around. And water was just as important, possibly even more so, as food. Reluctantly, she got up.

"Water... water..." she said to herself absently. Where was she going to find a nearby water supply? With a tree this abundant in resources, it would have to be around here somewhere.

She set off on her quest to find it, making a trail back to her new establish base of operations.

* * *

><p>The sky was darkening, and so were the clouds. Another storm was coming. This time, however, Reishi didn't mind. She had a home and plenty of food. Things were promising.<p>

She then promptly came across the biggest tree mounted on a rock ever. Her gold eyes widened. Never in her life had she seen anything like this. This was extraordinary. She began to climb it, occasionally slipping. Her tiny claws grabbed a withered looking branch and pulled herself up to the top.

Everything was hers to see and she gasped in awe. It was beautiful -

"Hey, young'un! Get yerself down off me!"

The rock shook and the Noibat tumbled as the rock - now an old looking Torterra - got up and glared at Reishi with heated fury.

"Scram, lil' bugger!" she roared and Reishi promptly took her leave. The Torterra sighed and lumbered onto the ground again murmuring, "Young generation so rude these days... It's horrendous. Then again, Rey, you never liked children noways..."

Reishi, meanwhile, ran on home, panting from exhaustion. That was a bit of a scary encounter. Who knew what other nasty foes could be here in these unlawful woods?

She shielded herself within the thick leaves of the bush, the fruity smells lulling her to sleep.

Life was perfect.

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><p>She awoke in the middle of the night suddenly to smell a crisp burning in the air. This immediately got her attention as she opened her eyes to see -<p>

She didn't like what she saw.

Reishi saw the forest on fire, everything in a howling vortex. Trees tumbled like leaves, and many Pokemon fled in fear. Birds of all kinds flew overhead in the sky, filling up with smoke.

Reishi's eyes widened. A forest fire? But how?

Nevermind that, she had to get out of here! She escaped from her bush home, running frantically to escape the ever growing fiery maw. A shame she couldn't fly. Would be pretty good at this point.

The smoke was cumbersom. Reishi coughed and hacked repeatedly, her eyes watering. In a few moments, she collapsed, vision going in and out. The last thing she saw was a giant rock, which looked awfully familiar...

_I'm dead. So very, very dead..._

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><p>AN: Read and Review please like usual! The Torterra will play a role in Reishi's history, so she isn't a random occurrence.

~GRB


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Unexpected Gift

Reishi awoke with a pained groan, coughing a little as she heard the rushing gurgle of a nearby stream. Her gold eyes opened slowly as she took in her surroundings.

This was a new place, she gathered quite quickly. This wasn't the woods near Terminus Cave. These woods were different. Some trees looked young and firm, saplings in their prime, while others looked bigger and more mature. Their green leaves fell off the branches and floated near her form, carried away by the wind to land in the stream and ride away on its coattails.

What happened? Last time she checked she nearly died from the smoke that engulfed the forest during the fire. Now, she was somehow miraculously alive and well, albeit with a scratchy throat, what feels to be minor burns, and other mild injuries.

_What the heck? _Reishi thought.

"About time ya woke up, kid."

Reishi turned to the voice and saw the same Torterra that had told her to scram not too long ago, a red eye looking rather boredly and even a bit of impatience at her. She immediately backed away, but the Torterra said, rather gruffly, "Don't worry yer little head, I won't hurt ya. I was actually watchin over ya."

Reishi blinked. She had been watching her...?

"How long...?" Reishi began to ask.

"A week," the Torterra cut in. "Ya've been out fer a week. I managed to take ya out of the fire and escaped from there into Santalune Forest."

Reishi's eyes widened. An entire week she was out cold?

"My name's Reylin," said the grass tortoise, lumbering over to the stream and drinking from it for a minute. "I don't usually do favors fer anyone, especially fer children, so consider yerself lucky."

Reishi blinked again. Just who was this woman? She inwardly shook her head and went to drink some water as well. She instantly felt better as the ice cold water slid down her throat and soothed it - she didn't know how raw and sore her throat had become from the smoke.

The more she drank, the better she felt. After she had her fill, she laid back down, only to have her stomach remind quite loudly that it still needed sustenance. The Noibat mildly sweatdropped.

"U-uh, excuse me, miss... u-um Reylin?" Reishi began timidly. "I'll be right back. Food and all..."

"Alrigh' then," Reylin said, almost dismissively so. "Don't go and get yerself killed now."

Reishi swallowed, somewhat painfully due to her still sore throat, but nodded all the same and went on her way.

Did all old Pokemon act like this?

_Probably, _Reishi thought, sweatdropping again.

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><p>Reishi had never known how to hunt.<p>

All the hunting was carried out by her late father or mother, and even then she got most of the meaty goodness hacked up like that of a common bird with its chicks. Berries, as Reishi herself knew at this point, wouldn't do it for her if she didn't get some sort of protein in her already slim diet.

She had heard from her mother that eggs were a great source of protein and were quite the delicacy (along with fish, but she wasn't in the mood for a wet ruff). If she could find eggs, then maybe her chances of survival were greater.

Her heart leapt at the sight of the things she had been looking for after a while. In a nest above her was a batch of eggs, about four or five.

Reishi pondered on how to get them. She still couldn't fully fly - gliding was the next best thing - but what she lacked in flight she benefited in climbing techniques. The Noibat was an excellent climber, and a silent one at that. Latching on to the trunk of the tree, she lithely scaled it, reaching the nest within a matter of minutes. And, within that same time frame, Reishi stuffed her face with egg, even eating some of the egg shell itself.

It was delicious! The yolk was firm, but at the same time soft enough to glide smoothly down her throat and into her stomach. Soon, all the eggs were eaten and Reishi's hunger was finally sated for the first time in forever.

A shriek, fierce and angry, came from behind her. Whirling around, Reishi saw to her horror a female Talonflame zooming towards her at deadly speed. Reishi hopped out the nest, barely dodging the claws and sliding down the trunk of the tree.

The Talonflame wasn't having it. It came shrieking towards her again, claws aimed to rake Reishi's eyes out. Reishi leapt away, flapping frantically to stabilize herself to the ground as she landed. The Talonflame came at her once more.

Reishi stood in abject fear, unable to defend herself.

All of a sudden, rocks like shrapnel cut and pierced the fire bird, making it screech in pain at the super effective move. It took off again, flight slightly wobbly.

"I told ya not kill yerself killed."

Reylin appeared, sighing as she cuffed the Noibat none too gently on the head. "Kids these days, never listen to adults..."

Reylin walked on past, steps shaking the very ground, as Reishi simply stared. She didn't even register getting cuffed in the head.

But, this elderly Torterra, Reylin, had saved her. No one had done that for her.

Except her siblings.

Reishi shook her head. Forget it, she thought. The past was in the past.

But the thought still nagged at her.

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><p>AN: Sorry for the wait, I had been quite busy with school and such. I'll try and find time to update these the quickest I can, and luckily, Thanksgiving is nearly here.

So, read and review! Thanks,Vet, for reviewing all my chapters so far! :D

~SRB


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hunting the Hunter

For the past several months, Reishi lived fairly well, knowing that the old Torterra, Reylin, would always somehow protect her. Unconsciously, she began to like her. She was like a mother to her. Her real mother was a lot better though.

It had also been several months since Reishi had tried to teach herself how to hunt. Some days Reylin wouldn't be there for Reishi, and would be gone for a few days. In order to fend for herself, she had to hunt her food down. Berries in this particular part of Santalune Forest were scarce it seemed, and so meat was the next best option. She wasn't going for any eggs this time around - the last time that happened ended in disaster - but she was going for live prey. She's failed many times, and slowly growing thin.

Either she needed to start packing on the pounds or she needed to start storing her food. Otherwise, death was upon her.

Death.

The mere prospect of it haunted her like a ghost, hounded her like a dog. It was always there, in the back of her subconscious it stood there, watching her, waiting for that one day that it would someday reap her soul and leave her empty shell of a body as if it were trash. Knowing she was born only to die later on in life definitely wasn't something a young child such as herself should have to experience.

And yet it also gave her the resolve to keep going. That there was something to live for. A faint glimmer of hope shone on the horizon. The more the young Noibat thought about it, the more it made sense. Here she was, a mere child living on her own, and somehow still living by a thread. It baffled Reishi's youthful mind,

One day, Reishi walked stealthily among the forest floor, spotting a nearby Fletchling. It pecked the ground, minding its business. Claws stretching, she decided on trying a different technique. Rather than trying to run and catch her quarry like her previous attempts, she would stun it.

With the plan in mind, she ran at it, giving an ear piercing shriek of 200,000 hertz of power. The Fletchling was stunned at this, but the ringing was painful and the bird was stuck covering its ears with its wings. Reishi, for the first time in a while, smirked in triumph. Now was her chance!

She pounced, claws extended and teeth gleaming. Feathers flew. Squawks pierced the air. Red stained the ground.

After a few minutes, Reishi was picking her teeth with the bone of her now eaten corpse. She had to admit, that idea was flawless, she thought. Her belly was full. For the first time in forever, she was happy. It did her heart good.

Suddenly, a loud bang noise resounded in the area, causing her to stand up in alarm. The birds scattered in fright. More bangs resounded in rapid succession.

Reishi, terrified now, hid behind a tree. She peeked cautiously to find two humans, both men, with long... Sticks?

"Sticks?" Reishi looked on incredulously. Why did they use sticks? Surely they could do better with a weapon of choice other than a stick-

BANG!

Something fired from the stick, and clipped her right in the cheek. She yelped in pain, looking towards the humans with a frightened look.

"Ah, looks like I missed," the one who fired said, disappointed. He aimed again.

Reishi took that as her cue to leave. She began to run frantically, wings flapping about in an attempt to get away into the air. She could get a few feet off the ground, but it wouldn't be enough. Was Death here already to collect his dues?

"Get back here!" the other man yelled.

More shots rang out in the air. The Noibat felt something graze her skin multiple times. Who were those people? Why were they doing this? Another shot raked across her right ear, making her hiss in pain. She still couldn't get airborne. Why? She could glide well before. Why couldn't she do so now of all times?

Then, that's when she remembered. She had just eaten. Of course she would be sluggish and weighed down.

So, in a desperate and last ditch attempt in order to escape her pursuers, Reishi regurgitated her food, still partially undigested, and beat her tiny wings into the air.

Adrenaline coursed through her body at an astonishing rate. So much so, that she didn't notice until the bangs had gone mute and she realized that she was far away from the ground.

Her already wide eyes expanded even further at this observation. Then she flapped her wings again, not in terror, but in joy.

"I'm flying!" she yelled freely to the sky above her. "I'm flying!"

Reishi swooped among the clouds, doing all sorts of dives and spins. She had finally managed to achieve the one thing she couldn't accomplish beforehand. Being able to fly was such a joy, such a freedom.

For the first time in ages - as it had seemed there had been many firsts today - she had abandoned all the cares in the world, even after that horrible scene.

For once, it seemed she was finally at peace.

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><p>AN: Gah, sorry for the wait. Stinking writer's block. Dx It sucks tremendously. That, and I have low motivation for the story right now. However, it will be continued. That can be assured. Those hunters Reishi met won't be their last appearance. They'll make a few more appearances here and there.

So I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know it's late, but whatever. :P

Read and review!

~SRB


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